The twentieth century has been called the American Century, a time when American ingenuity, economic growth, military power, and vibrant cultural expression led to increased prosperity and confidence at home and a stabilizing role in leadership on the international stage. 2018 finds us in a time of shifting alliances, renewed nationalism, unraveling multinational trade agreements, and serious divides at every level of political discourse. On the next WorldCanvass, historians, political scientists, and a former U.S. ambassador will look back over the last century through the prism of foreign policy and explore the interwar period (1918-1939), follow the rise of the post-WWII Western alliance, and assess U.S. foreign policy in a new time of global realignment and instability. Joan Kjaer hosts WorldCanvass, which takes place in downtown Iowa City at MERGE, 136 South Dubuque Street, from 5:30-7 p.m. on Wednesday, December 5, and is free and open to the public. We invite you to come at 5 and join us for a pre-show catered reception.

On October 27 & 29, 2016, International Programs and the German Historical Institute will host two keynote addresses from Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Lecturer Maiken Umbach, professor and chair of history from the University of Nottingham.

Kristina McLaughlin (B.S. political science and B.A. economics ’11), native of Marion, Iowa, is the winner of a Rotary Global Grant scholarship to Dublin.  

UI International Programs and the African Studies Program invite you to attend an upcoming baraza titled, "Durban Dockworkers and the Struggle against Apartheid." Featuring guest speaker Peter Cole, this event will take place on Wednesday, April 27, 2016, from 12-1:30 p.m. in 1117 UCC.

Noaquia Callahan, a Ph.D. candidate in history at the University of Iowa, is one of 13 Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant winners from the UI for 2016-17. Noaquia will undertake research on the development of interracial collaboration between African-American civil rights leader Mary Church Terrell and German women activists from 1888-1922 at the Free University of Berlin and the University of Heidelberg. As part of her community engagement, Noaquia will work with the German-American Fulbright Commission's Diversity Initiative to prepare Turkish, Afro-German, Muslim, and other students for study abroad in the U.S.

Visiting Assistant Professor Melissa Moreton will discuss her work examining the material culture of late medieval, Renaissance, and early modern Italy (1300-1650), combining methodologies from history, material book studies, art history, and the quantitative sciences.

The European Studies Group and the French and Italian Forum will co-host an upcoming talk, "Le Soleil Couchant by Théophile Gautier (1830): An Introduction to Reading French Poetry." Featuring guest speaker Geoffrey Hope, a professor of French at the UI, a reading and discussion will take place on the poetry of Théophile Gautier, in honor of the retirement of Professor Wendelin Guentner.

The European Studies Group will host a lecture on, "Writing the Early Modern Spanish Empire in the Pacific." Featuring guest speaker Ana M. Rodríguez-Rodríguez, the talk will explore the Spanish presence in the Philippines in the 16th and 17th centuries. This event is free and open to the public, and will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 26, 2016, in 315 Phillips Hall.

Dr. James Zogby will visit the UI for "How we should be discussing the Arab world and Islam in 2016," a lecture in which he will discuss the significance of political discourse regarding the Arab world and Islam. The event is free and open to the public, and will take place on Wednesday, January 27, 2016, from 12:30-1:30 p.m. in 1117 University Capitol Centre. It is co-sponsored by International Programs, CIVIC, the UI Honors Program, the UI School of Journalism and Mass Communication, UICHR, and the UI Department of History.

The International and African Studies Programs will host yet another baraza, or discussion - this time, with Marie Kruger, an associate professor in the Department of English. Trauma on Display: Commemorating Apartheid on Constitution Hill will explore how physical sites across South Africa are devoted to the commemoration of apartheid atrocities, from Robben Island to the Apartheid Museum.

On December 17, 2014, U.S. President Obama and Cuban President Castro announced a new era of openness and interaction between their two countries. As the one-year anniversary approaches, WorldCanvass explores Cuba’s rich history and culture through its architecture and urbanism, focusing on the question ‘what comes next?’ We’ll learn about the long and complex U.S./Cuba relationship through the lens of public health, and discuss new openings for educational exchange and business development on the island. WorldCanvass, which is free and open to the public, begins at 5 p.m. on December 8 at FilmScene in Iowa City.

The African Studies Program (ASP) is hosting its next baraza, or discussion – this time focusing on Northern Zimbabwe, an area claimed by the Portuguese but annexed by the British in late 1890. Titled Late Precolonial Struggles, European Expansion & the Making of Colonial Authority, the talk will ask how the making of the geography of European colonial possessions in Africa was influenced by local political struggles among Africans.